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FromVOAVOALearningEnglish, thisistheAgricultureReport.
Indianswholikealcohol, usuallychoosewhiskeyastheirdrink. Butslowly, wineisgrowingmorepopularinthecountry. India'sfirstvineyard, afarmwheregrapesusedtomakewinearegrown, isnamedSula. Itbeganoperations 15 yearsago.
SulavineyardsisinNashikinnorthwesternMaharashtrastate. SoftwareengineerNageshKambleandhiswifeSnehalhavecometothehillyvineyardfromPune, about 200 kilometerssouth. Theyoungcouplewantedtolearnhowwineismade. Theybegandrinkingwineatspecialeventtwoyearsago.
"ItwasinPunewhentherewasawinetastingfestivalgoingon," saidNagesh.
SnehalKambletellswhythecouplechosethistimetocometoSula.
"...itisouranniversarythisweek, sowearekindofcelebrating," saidSnehal.
SulaVineyardsisIndia'slargestIndianwinemaker. Tenyearsago, itopenedatastingroomtocreateawinecultureamongpeopleliketheKambles. About 200,000 peoplevisiteveryyear. Itisespeciallybusyonweekends.
Visitorsexplorethevineyards. Then, theylearnhowtotastewine, tobestenjoytheblendofflavors.
Indiantraditionhasnotbeenapprovingofalcoholicdrinks. Anduntilnowwhiskeyisthekindofalcoholthatthegeneralpublichasaccepted.
NeerajAgarwalisvicepresidentofSulaVineyards. Hehasseenthechangethathastakenplacesincethecompanystruggledtosellitsfirstseveralthousandbottlesofwinein 2000. Lastyear, Sulasoldmorethansevenmillionbottles. Mr. Agarwalbelievesthatwineishelpingchangeopinionaboutalcohol.
"Infiveyears, thescenariohascompletelychanged. Earlier, talkingaboutalcoholintheopenandseeingawomanhavingaglassofwineinhandwasataboo. Now, it'swonderful, familiescoming, sittingtogetherandenjoying," Agarwalsaid.
YoungprofessionalsarethemainsupportsofthegrowthinIndia'swinemarket. Themarketisexpandingatabout 13 percentayear. Overthelast 10 years, 90 winerieshaveopenedacrossKarnatakaandMaharashtrastates, wheretheclimateisfavorableforgrowingwinegrapes.
Indianwomenstillrepresentaverysmallnumberofthewinedrinkersinthecountry. Buttheirnumbersaregrowingmorethantwiceasfastasmen.
Thereareseveralreasonsforthis. Oneisthatmorewomenhavejoinedtheworkforceinthelasttenyears, andhaveindependentincomes. InbigcitieslikeDelhiandMumbai, womenbuyingwineorhavingadrinkisnolongerconsideredunacceptable.
I'mCatyWeaver.